Telegraph-key.



M N. GWINN. TELEGRAPH KEY.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, I916. L238,'?7%

Patented July 17, 1917.

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MORRIS N. 'GWINN, OF MEADOW CREEK, WEST VIRGINIA.

TELEGRAPH-KEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July it, ran.

I '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MORRIS N. GwINN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Meadow Creek, in the county of Summers and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telegraph-Keys, of which the following is a specification, reference being had tothe aocompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improved telegraph key of that type wherein the key lever is provided with separate contacts forthe purpose of making the dot and dash of the Morse code when the lever is properly manipulated to close the circuit.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a telegraph key consisting of two sections insulated from each other, one of said sections having a relative vibratory movement andcarrying a resilient dot contact spring and the other leversection having a dash contact thereon, and a third contact carried upon the first named lever section to positively break'the circuit through said lever section when the dot spring fails to move to its circuit breaking position, owing to induced magnetism in the stationary contact.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide an improved telegraph key of the above character-which is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in its construction, and will entirely eliminate the present deficiency in telegraph sending keys now in general use.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination, and arrangements of parts to be hereinafter more fully described, claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a telegraph key constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view;

Fig. i is a detail section taken onthe line 44: of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail elevation showing the circuit closing switch. 3 v

Referring in detail to the drawing,' 5 designates the metal base plate of the instrument which may be secured upon a support in any vpreferred manner. Upon this base plate, the binding p'osts'6 and 7 are mounted, the post 6 being in metallic engagement with the base plate while the post 7 is insulated therefrom as indicated at 8. To these bind ing posts the wires 9 and 10 respectively, extending from opposite sides of the circuit, are connected. A post 11 is also mounted upon the plate 5 in opposed relation to the binding post 7 and is insulated from the metallic base plate as shown at 12. A metallic current conducting strip 13 connects the posts 7 and 11 beneath the plate 5, an insulating strip 14 being interposed between said metal strip and the bottom face of the base plate.

A post 15 is mounted upon one end of the base plate and insulated therefrom as at 16, and this post is also connected to the post 11 by the metal current conducting strip 17 between which and the base plate 5 the insulating strip 18 is disposed. A transversely projecting arm or finger 19 is in metallic engagement with the post 15 and extends above the base plate in paced relation thereto. A switch lever 20 is fulcrumed intermediate of its ends upon the upper surface of the base plate as at 21, and is adapted to be disposed in parallel relation to the arm 19 and in metallic engagement therewith, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, to closethe circuit as will be presently explained.

In the upper end of the post 11, an adjustable contact 22 is mounted, and a similar adjustable contact 23 is also mounted in the upper' end of the post 15.

Upon the base plate 5, adjacent to the post 15, a vertically disposed frame 24: is securely fixed, and in this frame the key lever is pivotally mounted. This lever consists of a short plate 25 which is fixed on a block 26 loosely engaging upon a vertical rod or bolt v 27 mounted in the frame 24:- A lever section 28 is also pivotally mounted at one of its ends in the block 26 and extends alongside of the plate 25 and beyond the same. This lever section carries suitable finger pieces 29 and 30 of insulating material. A contact screw or pin 31 is threaded in the lever section 28 and adapted for engagement with the adjustable contact 23 mounted in the post 15. A threadedrod or pin 32 is also connectedto the lever section 28 and extends loosely through an opening in the plate 25. Upon this pin a coil spring 33 is arranged to yieldingly hold the lever section 28 against pivotal movement with respect to the plate 25. I

he other section 34: of the key lever consists of a cylindrical rod, one end of which is connected to a metal block by means of a leaf spring 36-. The block 35 is connected to the plate 25 but out of metallic contact therewith by an insulating block 37; 38 designates the screw connecting the metal block 35 to the insulating block 37, said screw constituting a contact for engagement with an adjustable relatively stationary contact screw 39 mounted in an arm 40 projecting longitudinally from one side of the frame '24. In a similar arm 41, secured upon'the opposite side of the frame, an adjustable screw 42 is'mounted, and in the illner end of said screw a plug of insulating material, indicated at 43, is secured. This insulating plug bears against the head of the contact screw 38 and prevents short circuiting of the current through the frame 24 and thebase plate 5. It will be readily understood that by'adjusting the screw 42, the contact 38 may be properly positioned with respect to the contact 39. The screw 38 is normally held out of metallic engagement with the contact 39 by a spring indicated 7 pen the cylindrical section 43 of the lever at its inner end, a sleeve or collar 45 isadjustably engaged,.said collar carrying a resilient dot contactspring 46, the free terminal of which is opposed to and adapted for engagement with the adjustable contact 22 mounted in the'post 11. A weight elemen'ty47 is also engaged upon the lever section 34 and secured in adjusted position by means of' a set screw 48. 49 designates a weighted'pivotally mounted lever carrying a disk of insulating material 50 for engagement with the end ofthe lever'section 34 to stop the vibration thereof when the key lever is released. This device is quite common in the art and constitutes no part of the present invention.

'The-essential distinction between my improved telegraph key, as above described, and others of an analogous character now in common use resides in the formation of the key lever in the two separate insulated sections and the provision of the additional contact 38 for opening and closing the circuit through the vibratory dot forming sect-ion of the lever. The device operates in the following-manner: In transmitting the message, when the; operator desires to send a series of dots, he exerts a lateral pres sure upon the fingerpiece 29 of the key lever in a direction away from the post 15, thus If swingingv the lever as a whole upon the pivot 'post 27 and simultaneously engaging the dot. contact spring 46 with the adjustable contact screw 22 and the screw 38 with the adjustable contact 39. As the lever sec 'tion 34' is connected to the bl0ck'35 by the resilient leaf spring 36, said lever section will rapidly vibrate and the dot contact spring 46 will successively engage and disengage the contact 22 a number of times, thereby transmitting a series of dots. Now it often occurs that the dot spring 46 will remain in engagement with the contact 22 after the key lever has been released or an arc will form between said spring and the contact, so that the circuit will remain closed. By the present construction, however, it will be seen that as the key lever is formed-in two sections and the additional contact 38 is provided upon the vibratory dot forming section of the lever, inmmediately upon the release of the lever the circuit will be broken through the vibratory lever section, as the contact 38 is disengaged from the contact 39 and the section 34 of the lever will thus become absolutely dead.

When the switch lever 20 is in its open position, in the transmission of the symbols the electric circuit is closed from the post 6 through the base plate 5, post 15, strips 17 and 13, post 11 and the post 7 to the opposite side of the circuit, the frame 24 being included in this closed circuit. As the insulating plug 43 is interposed between the end of the screw 42 and the screw 38. it will, however, be seen that the section 34 of the lever isnot included in the circuit when the dash key is operated. Thus when it is desired to transmit the dash symbol, the operator presses upon the finger piece 30 and moves the lever section 28 with respect to the plate25 against the action of the spring 33 so as to engage the contact 31 on said lover section with the adjustable contact 23 in the upper end of the post 15, thereby closing' the circuit in. the manner above stated. As the post 15 is insulated from the base plate 5, the circuit will be immediately broken upon the release of pressure on the finger piece 30. In receiving, the switch blade 20 is moved to its closed position as seen in Fig. 1.

7 From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that I have produced a very effective device whereby confusion and error in the transmission of telegraphic message is obviated through in the contact. The construction and arrangement of the several parts is exceedinduccd magnetism ingly simple so that the device is not liable legitimate changes in the form and construction of the device as may be clearly embodied within the spirit and scope of my invention as'claimed.

I claim:

1. A telegraph key including a base having spaced binding posts to which opposite sides of the circuit are connected, one of the posts being in metallic engagement with the base and the other post insulated therefrom, spaced adjustable contacts mounted upon said base, a current conductor connecting one of said contacts with the latter binding post, a current conductor connecting the contacts to each other, a switch mounted upon the base plate to close the circuit through the other contact, a horizontally swinging lever consisting of two sections insulated from each other, a resilient dot contact spring carried by one of the lever sections for engagement with the first named contact, an additional stationary contact in the circuit to be simultaneously engaged by said lever section, means for mounting the other lever section for independent pivotal movement, and a dash contact carried by the latter lever section for engagment with the other of said first named contacts.

2. A telegraph key including a base, one side of the circuit being closedthrough said base, spaced contacts mounted on the base, a key lever consisting of two sections mounted for horizontal swinging movement as a unit in one direction, means insulating these sections from each other, a resilient dot contact spring carried by one of the lever sections for engagement with one of the contacts on the base when the lever is swung in one direction, additional means for closing the circuit through the latter lever section whereby the circuit through said lever section will be broken independently of the dot contact spring when the lever is re leased, and a dash contact carried by the other section of the lever for engagement with the other contact on the base when the lever is swung in a relatively opposite direction.

3. A telegraph key includin a base, spaced contacts mounted upon t e base, a binding post insulated from the base and connected to one side of the circuit, means for closing the other side of the circuit Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing through the base, the contacts and said binding post, a horizontally swinging key lever consisting of two resiliently connected lever sections insulated from each other, a dot contact spring carried by one of the lever sections to engage one of said contacts upon movement of the lever in one direction, an additional contact mounted upon the base for engagement by said lever section. to break the circuit independently of said dot contact spring when the lever is released, the other of said lever sections being mounted for pivotal movement with respect to the first lever section in a relatively opposite direction, and a dash contact carried by the latter lever section for engagement with the other of said first named con tacts on the base.

4:, A telegraph key including a base, a binding post insulated from the base to which one side of the circuit is connected, spaced contacts mounted upon the base and insulated therefrom, current conductors between said contacts and the binding post, a frame mounted upon the base, a key lever consisting of two sections one of which is pivotally mounted in said frame, means insulating the lever sections from each other, a dot contact spring carried by the other lever section for engagement with one of the contacts on the base, additional contact mounted upon the frame also engaged by said lever section, means limiting the movementof said lever section to open position and preventing the metallic contact of the lever section with said frame, said lever seca unit to engage the tion being movable as dot contact spring with the stationary contact, a dash contact onthe first named lever section for engagement with the other of the first named contacts on the base when the first lever section is swung in a relatively opposite direction, and a switch to close the circuit through the base and said contacts.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses. MORRIS N. GWINN.

\Vitnesses M. C. LYDDANE, M. R. WILSON.

Washington, D. G.

the Commissioner of Patents, 

